This is the story of the first 4 years of a scientist’s journey with Parkinson’s disease. It begins with the diagnosis and the neurologist’s affirmation: “The cause of Parkinson’s Disease is unknown… “, “that’s why there are no drugs to slow or stop Parkinson’s disease”. That was a terrible blow for the patient, but a challenge for the researcher: to discover what the leading researchers believed drives the progression of Parkinson’s disease, even if that information had not yet trickled down to practising neurologists. It didn’t take long to learn that these experts know quite enough about the causes of Parkinson’s disease to identify targets for drugs to slow Parkinson’s disease. People with Parkinson’s are not being told the truth about their disease.
Join me on this journey. You will meet some of the experts who helped me build a model describing the events occurring in the early stages of Parkinson’s disease and develop a method based on a plant-based molecule to combat these events. I have been using and improving this method since the beginning of 2020 with good results and sharing progress with a small group of People with Parkinson’s. All People with Parkinson’s are now invited to join our group and learn more about the method.
You will also learn how the Pharmaceutical Industry fails to address the most important steps driving the progression of Parkinson’s Disease and concentrates uniquely on symptomatic therapies. People with Parkinson’s will understand why no disease-modifying therapies will be developed by the Pharmaceutical Industry in their lifetime.
Finally, the Broccoli & Sulforaphane Research Group is now operational and has more than 50 members (September 2022). It is a community of People with Parkinson’s committed to pursuing their own research on sulforaphane with the aim of slowing the progression of Parkinson’s disease. The first results of the application of this research by PwPs is demonstrated in this short video:
After 3 years, this initial project imagined by Dr Wright has attained its initial objectives. The target mechanisms (the Keap1/Nrf2/ARE pathway) and their impact on Parkinson’s disease are now well understood and validated. Research towards maximizing the yield of sulforaphane in Broccoli Seed Tea from a standard seed source has made excellent progress in recent weeks. This was made possible through the development of a novel analytical technique, specifically developed by Dr Wright to study the kinetics of the hydrolysis of glucosinolates by the enzyme myrosinase. The overall objective is that BS-RG members will have access to the most reliable information on seed sources and BST preparation techniques.
Reflections … takes the form of a presentation. It is a PDF File which you can download. Use the CTRL-L command to open and close the full-screen presentation.
The Patient Researcher 
Thrilled with anticipation and privileged to be part of this journey. Thank you for this phenomenal opportunity!
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The comment above is a link to the July newsletter of European Commission-funded Working Group on the science and medical applications of the transcription factor Nrf2, entitled BenBedPharma. The July 2022 Newsletter features “Reflections of a Scientist with Parkinson’s disease” as an Invited Article at the request of the Chairman, Prof Antonio Cuadrado.
I would like to thank Prof Cuadrado for this invitation and taking the time to write the introduction which I reproduce below.
Invited article
In January 2020, I was approached by Dr. Albert Wright. He is a retired British researcher based in Grenoble, France, that had been suffering from with Parkinson’s disease (PD) for more than 2 years at that time. He was looking for ways to slow or reverse his disease and, based on the available literature on the NRF2 activator sulforaphane and PD, he started to take an infusion of broccoli seeds, rich in glucosinolates and isothiocyanates. A careful self-analysis of his disease led him to conclude that the sulforaphane-rich tea improved several PD symptoms. Unfortunately, he could not engage clinicians in the analysis of his disease progression and, due to lack of a highly controlled trial, based in school pharmacology and medicine, our letter correspondence cooled down. Recently, Albert contacted me again, as well as Dr. Albena Dinkova-Kostova, world expert in NRF2-related pharmacology, and Dr. Jed Fahey, expert in extraction of sulforaphane from Cruciferous vegetables at John Hopkins University. In these years he had organized a support group with several PD patients that were also taking a sulforaphane-rich infusion. While a carefully controlled trial is still necessary, Albert’s essay depicts a crucial problem in the NRF2 field, which is that most NRF2 activators are of natural origin and difficult to be protected with strong patents by biopharmaceutical companies. This fact represents a significant restrain in development of NRF2-related therapeutics in diseases such as PD. In other words, pharmacological research is not always focused on patients but on investors.
The link below takes you to the newsletter but not to the article.. On a PC, you can see the contents page and click on the entry labeled INVITED ARTICLE, otherwise scroll down to find it.
https://benbedphar.org/issue-3-july-2022/#elementor-toc__heading-anchor-14
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How do we get hold of the tea please?
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All the information you need is on this website.
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What should I do next
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If you are serious about participating in this research, fill in the inscription form on this site.
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Please give me info on how I can be involved in trial of Broccoli Seed Tea…I have had P.D for 13 years…
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